


Weapon Training

by violasarecool



Series: What Can 8 Grey Wardens Do? [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Party Banter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-11
Updated: 2015-12-11
Packaged: 2018-05-06 02:50:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5400089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/violasarecool/pseuds/violasarecool
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>just some party members chatting while they travel between cities. the warden's companions are shocked to discover he's never had weapon training</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weapon Training

**Author's Note:**

> my warden is an elven mage named Quentin, and his mabari's name is Cerberus

It was nearing daybreak, and they were about halfway back to Redcliffe. Quentin yawned, listening to the chatter of his companions as they walked. They'd started out later than usual, but they were making good progress. He glanced across the open plain; there hadn't been trees for a while, and chirping and cawing of various birds were easily audible from a great distance. Voices also carried fairly loudly.

"Where are you going?" Leliana called, and Quentin stopped and turned, nearly crashing into Wynne, who held out an arm to steady him.

"Careful, now," she said.

Quentin glanced back at Leliana, who was watching the retreating figure of Oghren. She turned to look at Quentin, nonplussed.

"I expect he has gone to water the plants," Zevran commented.

"Water the―oh." Alistair scratched the back of his head. "What is that, the third time this morning?"

Zevran laughed. "Consider how much liquid goes into our dwarf friend. It must come out eventually, yes?"

Leliana made a face. "Let's not talk about that."

Ahead of them, Morrigan and Wynne continued walking, Cerberus bounding along behind at their heels. "Come on," Quentin said, gesturing to the others, "Oghren will catch up in a moment."

They started walking again; Zevran sped up to walk beside Quentin. "I have a question for you."

Quentin looked up. "Go ahead."

"Before, when you said you'd never fought with a blade. Have you any weapon training?"

Quentin shook his head. "No."

Leliana's head shot up. "Wait, really? Not even with your staff?"

"Not in the sense of _whacking_  people with it, no," Quentin laughed.

"I don't believe this," she said, glancing at Zevran.

"What about hand to hand combat," Zevran demanded, "did they not teach you self defence?"

Quentin made a sheepish face.

"No? Really!" Zevran tutted at him. "This is an unforgiveable failing by your mage teachers. What would happen should you be attacked by an enemy with resistance to your magic? What if you lose your staff?"

"I can still cast magic without my staff," Quentin put in. "It's just not as powerful."

"But if you run out of mana..." Zevran pointed at him. "Splat."

Quentin narrowed his eyes. "If I run out of mana I'm not exactly going to have the energy to do much of anything else, either. And besides, that's what we have lyrium potions for."

"Mm." Leliana turned to Alistair. "You Grey Wardens have low standards."

"Hey!" Quentin protested.

"He's not exactly a novice mage," Alistair said, but he frowned, looking at Quentin. "Actually though, you've never had _any_... non-magic... combat training?"

Quentin made a vague hand gesture. "Alright, we did _kind of._ We used to have strength training exercises we'd do just so we wouldnt wither away into nothing from sitting inside all day studying spells―which sometimes meant sparring, but nothing fancy, not official _training,_ really."

Alistair shook his head. "Weird."

"...And, uh, some mages just used the time to work on difficult spells." 

Zevran snorted. " _Some mages_ ," he said, staring at Quentin, who grinned.

"I don't understand you," Leliana declared, shaking her head. 

Quentin held up a hand. "Do you hear―" He looked around, then turned around completely. "Ah." He waved at the short red-haired figure approaching at a slow jog. "Just Oghren."

They slowed down slightly, waiting for Oghren to rejoin them. "What'd I miss?"

"Our dear Grey Warden is useless without his staff," Zevran announced.

Oghren chuckled. "Well as long as he's good with his staff," he said, winking, "I'm sure his bedmates aren't complaining."

"While I would dearly love to discuss his night time _activities_ ," Zevran said, "I'm afraid I was actually being quite literal. He has no weapon training to speak of."

"Wait, what?" Oghren stared at Quentin. "I thought elves were good with blades?"

"Now that is one I haven't heard. Most people assume we elves are all archers," Zevran said dryly. Oghren ignored him.

"By the ancestors' flaming asscheeks," he muttered, staring at Quentin. "Kid, we've got to get you up to speed!" He looked around. "Someone get this elf a sword."

"Maybe a dagger, to start," Leliana said, smirking, "I'm not sure he can handle a larger blade quite yet."

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know why you guys are _surprised_ , he spent his life cooped up in a tower full of books and hand-waving
> 
>  _please don't give me crit_ , constructive or not, even if you feel the need to point out a typo, i would appreciate it if you didn't. i do this for fun, and once i've posted something, i don't really want to think about it critically anymore. thanks.


End file.
